Save and Reuse Your Tin/Aluminum Food Cans

For both environmental and economical reasons, we could all do with reducing, reusing, and recycling more often. Case in point: the numerous organizers and containers we buy that could easily be replaced with repurposed food tins.

We all buy food items in aluminum (or tin) cans--ravioli, soup, baked beans, you name it. Most of us are conscientious enough to put our used tin cans in the recycling bin.

But why not wash them out and reuse them?

First, you'll need a smooth-edge can opener like the OXO Good Grips Smooth Edge Can Opener. This leaves a smooth edge on both the can and the lid.

FYI: Leave the label on, and you've got a "dummy can" that can fool burglers. Stash emergency cash or expensive jewelry in it, place the lid back on, and put it back in your pantry. With the label intact, a thief will never guess what's really hidden inside!

For everyday stuff, peel off the label before washing the can. (Place the lid in the recycling bin.) Voila! There you are--a can that can be used for storing any number of things around the house, garage, or classroom.

Use it for:

1. Pen and pencil bin.
2. Paint brushes (or paint).
3. Loose "junk" in a drawer.

Crafty? Wrap the tin can in black gaffer tape or designer duct tape. You can even use fancy chalkboard sticker labels to label each can's contents.

There's no need to stop with tin cans. To the left is a creamer bottle I washed. It used to contain powdered cream for my coffee. The creamer label was a wrapped plastic sheet that tore away easily. I filled it with extra pencils. I can unscrew the top if I want, or pop the top and "pour" out one pencil at a time. I can mark each bottle "colored pencils" or "markers" or "sharpies" using a sharpie, or using the fancy chalkboard labels already mentioned.

The plastic tubs keep markers from drying out! I use enough creamer in my coffee (and I drink A LOT of coffee) to collect many of these. They are very convenient for organizing student materials.

In junior and senior high school Social Studies/History classes, we write and draw on a lot of maps. The trick? Keep about a dozen of these, filled with a handful of colored pencils, markers, etc., as well as an inexpensive 6" ruler. (With high school kids, I've cut freebie bendable plastic rulers in half!) When map time comes around, each pair of students (or each student, if there are enough containers) gets a plastic bottle of drawing supplies. It's so easy and convenient! And with screw-on lids, the contents don't fall out.

The moral of this story? Think before you toss items into the recycling bin. Take the container, remove its labels, and wash it out. Give it a long, hard look. What can you use it for? You'd be surprised how many ideas come to mind.

Tricks:

• Use an orange peel to remove gummy labels (soaking in warm water also works).
• Use nail polish remover to remove stamped-on expiration dates.
• Use duct tape to cover up labels that can't be removed.

Reign Television Series on CW

October 19, 2014 (New York, NY) - Reign is a television program aired on the CW network. It is very loosely based on the life of Mary Queen of Scots, focusing on her marriage to Francis of France. Currently in its second season, this television series is best described as historical fiction. The real Mary Queen of Scots (lived 1542-1587) was married, as a young girl, to the Dauphin of France, the future Francis II (lived 1544-1560), son of Henry II (lived 1519-1559) and Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589). Continue reading

Capitalizing Titles

Sometimes we find something online, and can only ask, "Why didn't I think of that?"

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Girls Who Code: Encouraging Young Women to Study Computer Science

"Women represent 12% of all computer science graduates. In 1984, they represented 37% of all computer science graduates." This, according to Girls Who Code, an organization aimed at introducing girls to the world of computer coding. Clubs are forming around the United States.

Computer coding--creating and maintaining the blips and bleeps behind the technology (cell phone apps, computer programs, software, etc.) that we all rely on more and more each day--is a growing and lucrative field. The diminishing number of females studying in this area means that many women will be locked out of the computing career field.

This is a field with which we all should be familiar in order to participate in the career market of the future. If you have a daughter or teach female students, the Girls Who Code website is worth checking out.

Free 2014-2015 Monthly School Calendar

This simple 12-month academic calendar, with plenty of space for writing notes, is free to print here. It runs from August of 2014 through July of 2015.

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Why Students Should Learn Cursive Writing

Time last week published an article on recent legislative overtures to require the teaching of cursive script handwriting in schools. The article lists requirements for signatures, benefits to cognition, and the ability to read important documents (such as the Declaration of Independence), among the reasons students should learn cursive in school. Writer Katy Steinmetz states, regarding historical documents: "(W)hat a travesty it is to raise Americans who would look at those documents as if they were written in hieroglyphics."

As a classroom teacher, I witnessed instruction in cursive script writing diminish as No Child Left Behind was implemented. Reasons given were that test preparation left no time for cursive. And besides, everyone will forego writing by hand in favor of computers. As a junior and senior high school history teacher, I found these reasons appalling.

Time writer Katy Steinmetz is correct in pointing out what a travesty it would be if American students could not read the Emancipation Proclamation in its original form. But there are other, more pragmatic reasons for learning cursive writing.

• People write in cursive. All around the world, people write using cursive script. These people could be future employers, coworkers, instructors, and the like. Imagine a child getting a letter in cursive that he or she cannot decipher. Imagine this child as an adult at a job, being handed a piece of paper that cannot be read because it is written in cursive. Students who do not learn cursive are at a disadvantage in the larger world of work (and life).

• Most tests and exams are still written by hand. This is why the focus on test preparation over cursive instruction was so perplexing to me. Had these anti-cursive teachers never taken a college admissions exam, or blue book test in college? Standardized tests require pen and paper, seldom offering an online typing option. Write in print, you say? I challenge anyone to start copying this article. Do a few paragraphs in print, then a few paragraphs in cursive. Which is faster? Which allows your hand to better keep pace with your brain? For the vast majority of people, the answer is cursive. Writing in cursive means writing more quickly. Additionally, you will likely find that the fluid movement means that writing in cursive causes less hand and arm strain. You not only write more quickly, but you do not tire out as easily as you do when writing in print manuscript.

No cursive means looking like a dumbie at work, and possibly receiving lower scores on written tests and exams. To elaborate on the first point--effectiveness on the job--allow me to list a few professions in which one could never succeed without cursive reading and writing skills.

• Lawyer. Lawyers must sift through mountains of documents, many handwritten in cursive. A lawyer who can't read documents is not much of a lawyer.

• Teacher. Many teachers forego cursive instruction in their classrooms, but need it themselves to read notes from parents, etc. And how could such a teacher teach, in a school where cursive writing is taught?

• Historian. As noted above, historical documents are often in cursive. Likewise, most personal letters, diaries, and private memoirs are in script. A historian who can't read history is not much of a historian.

• Police officer or detective. Again, these are careers that involve the reading of written words.

Challenge yourself. Take a week, and note each time you come into contact with cursive writing. Chances are high that it's often. Each time you see cursive writing, imagine what it would be like if it were written in an alphabet you do not know--perhaps Cyrillic or ancient Sumerian. Then ask yourself if students should be taught cursive writing in school. If your answer is yes, then you might enjoy our cursive writing practice worksheets. They're completely free to print and use. (Psst...we offer free worksheets for print manuscript handwriting practice, as well.)